Pryor Students Raise Teepee at Bair Museum on Opening Weekend

The Bair Museum will open for the summer May 1.

A trip to the Bair Family Museum allows visitors to step into the home of one of Montana’s most prosperous families.

A special May 2 event is the annual Teepee-Raising Ceremony.

The museum is open May 1 – Sept. 30. Hours in May and Sept. are 10 am. to 5 pm., Wed. to Sun. only. Memorial Day to Labor Day hours are 10 am. to 5 pm., seven days a week.

Bair Family Museum is located South on Highway 89, east on Highway 12 between White Sulphur Springs and Harlowton.

The Bair Family Museum is managed by the Upper Musselshell Historic Society in Harlowton and financially supported by the Charles M. Bair Family Trust Board of Advisors.

High School Students with the Plenty Coups FFA chapter from Pryor will demonstrate the rich traditions of their Crow heritage, Friday, May 2, on the grounds of the Charles M. Bair Family Museum, in Martinsdale. Eight Plenty Coups High School students, all members of the Crow Tribe, will present a program of Crow culture that has won them both state and national FFA American Indian Program awards for the past three years. The event, which is open to the public, includes teepee construction, traditional Crow style drum dancing, and a ‘hands on’ discussion of Native American diet - including the opportunity for the audience to purchase Indian tacos.

Laura Moore, FFA advisor to the Plenty Coups FFA Chapter, is also the agriculture teacher at Plenty Coups High School. She said her FFA students do all the research and preparation for the demonstrations, including talking with tribal elders and searching for information on the net to prepare a program for audiences of all ages that promotes Indian culture associated with agriculture. The resulting program, said Moore, has students giving power point lectures on Native American culture, demonstrating traditional dance and music, and gaining a better understanding and appreciation of their Crow heritage:

“These kids are proud of who they are and where they are from. The work they do to compete in the FFA American Indian Program competition has given them a new-found confidence and ability to value the Crow culture and talk about it before very large audiences like the FFA national convention in Indianapolis, as well as small groups such as students in schools around Montana.”

Moore said several schools around the state are bringing students to the teepee raising at the Bair Museum on May 2, including those from Lavina, Ryegate, Harlowton and White Sulphur Springs. She credits growing interest in American Indian culture by area schools partly to Montana’s Indian Education For All implementation, authorized by the 2005 Montana Legislature to provide funding to develop in Montana students an understanding of American and Montana Indian people and their histories, as well as fostering respect for their respective cultures

The teepee construction ceremony is just one of many special events taking place at or near the Charles M. Bair Family Museum this summer. Other activities include rodeos, a Woolgrowers campout, the second annual Wind Festival, art shows, Shakespeare in the Park, and a book festival. For more information, call (406) 572-3314, or visit the website, info@bairfamilymuseum.org.

Montana’s Indian Education For All implementation has resulted in funding that allows Montana school systems to bring the Plenty Coups FFA lecture/demonstration program to individual schools around the state. Other states are looking to Montana as a leader in Indian Education For All efforts as the state strives to make the promise of Indian Education for All a reality, and as Montana educators work to ensure that Indian students are offered an opportunity for a quality education. http://opi.mt.gov/indianed.